Croatia Border Clashes As Country Says It Cannot Take More Refugees
Source: Guardian UK
EU member state says it is struggling to cope after 6,500 people enter in one day but will care for those already inside
Patrick Kingsley in Horgoš and agencies in Tovarnik
Thursday 17 September 2015 10.57 EDT
The Croatian government has said that the country cannot take in any more migrants, as riot police clashed with people entering the EU country from Serbia.
Croatia’s interior minister, Ranko Ostojić, said Croatia would provide migrants and refugees with safe passage to reception centres around the capital, Zagreb, but that those not seeking asylum would be considered illegal immigrants.
With their path north from Serbia into Hungary – and the EU – blocked since Tuesday, many migrants and refugees have turned west to the Croatian frontier. Ostojić said 6,500 had entered in the last 24 hours.
“Croatia will not be able to receive more people,” Ostojić told reporters in the town of Tovarnik on Croatia’s eastern border with Serbia, where thousands of people gathered on Thursday in and around the train station in blazing sunshine, waiting to board trains and buses.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/croatian-riot-police-clash-migrants-border-serbia-closes
E.U. nations pull welcome mats for migrants, imposing new restrictions
By William Booth, Anthony Faiola and Michael Birnbaum September 17 at 5:54 PM
ZAGREB, Croatia — European nations once friendly to refugees abruptly yanked their welcome mats Thursday, as Germany considered slashing its benefits and Croatia announced it was closing most of its road links with Serbia “until further notice.”
The German measures would overhaul asylum codes to stem the massive flow of migrants into Europe, scaling back the generous policies that have made Germany a beacon for desperate war refugees and economic migrants pouring out of the Middle East, Africa and beyond.
In a 128-page draft law produced by the German Interior Ministry and obtained by The Washington Post, the government would speed asylum procedures, cut cash benefits, hasten deportations and punish those with false claims and phony paperwork.
The tough new measures, the draft bill states, are needed to cope with the huge influx of refugees into Germany, where 800,000 asylum applications were expected this year in country with a population of 81 million.
In Croatia, meanwhile, leaders reversed themselves a day after they promised to greet asylum seekers with open arms — a greeting that stood in sharp contrast to a decision by neighboring Hungary to seal its frontier with razor wire and riot police.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/croatia-is-the-new-frontline-in-europes-refugee-crisis/2015/09/17/3723efc0-5c93-11e5-8475-781cc9851652_story.html
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christx30
(6,241 posts)Croatia’s interior minister, Ranko Ostojić, said Croatia would provide migrants and refugees with safe passage to reception centres around the capital, Zagreb, but that those not seeking asylum would be considered illegal immigrants.
So if you're there to get actual help, you can stay. If you're looking to asylum shop, you're out of luck.
branford
(4,462 posts)that they would effectively allow unfettered free passage to norther Europe for all refugees. Like Germany, their initial generosity turned into a logistical and security nightmare that they're now carefully trying to unwind.
Since the refugees clearly do not want to stay in Croatia (most are trying to get to Germany and Sweden), and many refuse to register to prevent later deportation from richer northern and western European countries due to the obligation to apply for asylum in the first "safe" country, I confidently anticipate that Croatia will soon enact stricter border controls and internal enforcement mechanisms similar to Slovenia, Serbia, Austria, and elsewhere, or if the situation worsens or there is any violence, controls akin to those in Hungary.
christx30
(6,241 posts)they were overwhelmed by the number of refugees coming into the country, so they felt they had to shut it down.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/17/uk-europe-migrants-idUKKCN0RG1GM20150917
I think you're right about what Croatia is going to do. If the refugees refuse to follow the law trying to get to Germany or Sweden, they can't expect a very warm welcome.
So what do you do in a country when 20,000 people storm across the border (and, I've seen youtube video of it happening, and there is some violence on the part of the refugees), and don't feel they need to follow the rules?
branford
(4,462 posts)particularly since the wave of refugees/migrants appears steady and unlikely to abate any time soon. The logistic, financial and cultural demands of transit and destination countries are enormous, and anti-immigrant anti-EU parties were already on the rise before the refugee crisis. However, I do know that dismissing the legitimate concerns of many EU and other citizens, as some on DU appear to do, will only make the tragedy worse.
There certainly are no easy answers, no less consensus solutions, and even the populations of the most generous countries will eventually lose patience, with scenes of violence having the potential to quickly, and negatively, shift public opinion.
At this point, I'm just hoping that the situation doesn't wreck the EU itself. It's certainly been an boon for the likes of LePen and anti-EU campaigners in the UK.
For instance, could you even imagine the popular reaction if one of the refugees turned out to be an ISIS agent and committed a terrorist act in Germany or Sweden, a not entirely unrealistic proposition, and something the USA is very worried about according to recent statements from DHS about the need for very careful screening of refugees?
christx30
(6,241 posts)Last edited Thu Sep 17, 2015, 11:25 PM - Edit history (1)
who was previously convicted of terror related crimes (of being a member of Al Qaeda), was shot and killed by police in Berlin after he stabbed and critically injured a police officer.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/german-police-shoot-and-kill-islamic-extremist-following-knife-attack/
While not being a refugee, it can't help their cause.
And there was a story a few days ago, where 2 members of ISIS took selfies while in the group of refugees to show how they were able to make it in. If memory serves, it was on the island of Lesbos. They were arrested, but again, it doesn't help the migrants. Here is that story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3227436/Syrian-refugees-turned-Lesbos-war-zone-residents-claim-migrants-chant-f-Hungarian-police-amid-fears-ISIS-using-crisis-enter-Europe.html
branford
(4,462 posts)it might only take a single ISIS impostor to commit a heinous terrorist act and radically shift public opinion.
I imagine that the leaders of the Europe (and the USA, Turkey, etc.) are privately VERY concerned about this possibility, but will not dare speak of it publicly in fear of enraging an already skeptical public.
christx30
(6,241 posts)in the world, 19 of them caused 9/11, and changed America forever.
It doesn't take much bad.
But even if there are *zero* bad elements in the crowd, there's still an overwhelmingly large crowd. No country is going to be able to take enough of them to stem the tide. There's just too many of them. Nearly 23 million people live in Syria. What happens if 10% of the country decides to come? That's 2 million people. Can Germany and Sweden absorb that many people? Should they be expected to?
Bohemianwriter
(978 posts)swarmed all over America, committing genocide in the process....
You should be expected to not only take a few million AMERICAN mestizos across the border, you as a country have a moral obligation to take the bulk of these refugees. These are your responsibility America!
840high
(17,196 posts)Bohemianwriter
(978 posts)& European colonialism, self righteous wars and terrorism.
The blood of these people are on the hands of every single person who let Bush&Cheney, Blair, France, Germany and other Nato countries bomb the shit out of people who have never done any harm to us.
Boycott Hungary. Boycott Croatia. Boycott USA as long as you fail to hold your own war criminal accountable or at least extradite them to Hague.
This is YOUR doing America!
pampango
(24,692 posts)Hungary began building a fence on its border with Croatia overnight to stem a flow of migrants and has deployed hundreds of soldiers and police on the frontier, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public radio on Friday. He said the fence will be finished on the critical 41-kilometer (25 mile) stretch of border where the two countries are not separated by a river by the end of Friday.
"We must implement the same measures as on the Serbian-Hungarian border," Orban said, adding that at this point 600 soldiers had worked on the fence, and a further 500 will be deployed on Friday and 700 more over the weekend.
Hungary, which has been the transit route for over 180,000 migrants this year, has built a 3.5-meter (10-foot) fence on its frontier with Serbia and implemented a raft of immigration laws to clamp down on migration. This has diverted the flow of migrants towards Croatia and Slovenia this week.
He said this showed that this was no longer simply an immigration problem, but "threat, danger and terrorism". He reiterated that Hungary would have to use the army as well to protect its borders. Parliament will vote on the proposal to deploy the army next week.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Sep-18/315743-hungary-starts-building-fence-on-border-with-croatia.ashx?utm_content=buffer9fb97&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
To the 'Trumps' of the world, if one wall is good, two walls are better. And a good conservative knows that a wall is only as good as the army that backs it up with force. "Hungary would have to use the army as well to protect its borders."
And, of course, a conservative figures he can sell anything if he cites 'terrorism' as the justification. "... this was no longer simply an immigration problem, but "threat, danger and terrorism".
Mr. Orban may not know that there are more than 300,000 Hungarians "migrants" living and working in other EU countries.
His RW brothers in France (the National Front), the UK (UKIP) and elsewhere would love to use Mr. Orban's 'anti-migrant' rhetoric against Hungarians in their countries and kick them all out of France and the UK. It is not currently legal for those right wingers to do that. The EU and Schengen do not permit the French and British right from going all "Orban" on the Hungarians living and working in their countries. But if the far-right wins power in France and the UK, as it has in Hungary, laws will change and Mr. Orban may be welcoming back a few hundred thousand of his fellow Hungarians who have been working in other countries. Has he taken a position on that particular "migrant problem"?
Turborama
(22,109 posts)
Response to pampango (Reply #11)
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Turborama
(22,109 posts)Up to 20 buses carried migrants to the border on Friday, although Hungary says it is building a new fence there.
Croatia earlier closed seven of eight road crossings to Serbia after 14,000 migrants entered over the past two days seeking passage to northern Europe.
Slovenia, another neighbour of Croatia, accused it of breaking EU rules.
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34291648
Note, the BBC still refers to the refugees as "migrants", which is evidence of how the establishment in the UK still sees them.
Nihil
(13,508 posts)Some of the migrants are refugees.
Some aren't.
All are "migrants" so that is the correct term to use.
No need for nefarious plots ...
Turborama
(22,109 posts)The word migrant has become a largely inaccurate umbrella term for this complex story.
The umbrella term migrant is no longer fit for purpose when it comes to describing the horror unfolding in the Mediterranean. It has evolved from its dictionary definitions into a tool that dehumanises and distances, a blunt pejorative.
It is not hundreds of people who drown when a boat goes down in the Mediterranean, nor even hundreds of refugees. It is hundreds of migrants. It is not a person – like you, filled with thoughts and history and hopes – who is on the tracks delaying a train. It is a migrant. A nuisance.
It already feels like we are putting a value on the word. Migrant deaths are not worth as much to the media as the deaths of others - which means that their lives are not. Drowning disasters drop further and further down news bulletins. We rarely talk about the dead as individuals anymore. They are numbers.
When we in the media do this, when we apply reductive terminology to people, we help to create an environment in which a British foreign minister can refer to "marauding migrants," and in which hate speech and thinly veiled racism can fester.
We become the enablers of governments who have political reasons for not calling those drowning in the Mediterranean what the majority of them are: refugees.
=snip=
According to the UN, the overwhelming majority of these people are escaping war. The largest group are fleeing Syria, a country in which an estimated 220,000 to more than 300,000 people have been killed during its appalling and escalating war.
Many others come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Eritrea and Somalia – all places from which people are commonly given asylum.
There is no "migrant" crisis in the Mediterranean. There is a very large number of refugees fleeing unimaginable misery and danger and a smaller number of people trying to escape the sort of poverty that drives some to desperation.
Full piece: http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/editors-blog/2015/08/al-jazeera-mediterranean-migrants-150820082226309.html
Nihil
(13,508 posts)There are things that the BBC can be bashed for but this isn't one of them.
They use the correct English language words to describe events rather than
constantly torturing the language to "avoid offence to someone" (and, as an
English language person, I appreciate that).
It is used as a neutral term by many media organisations (not just the BBC)
but if you prefer Al Jazeera's view on it, fine.
It is the situation that needs to be fixed - at source - not the vocabulary.
Turborama
(22,109 posts)Last edited Wed Sep 23, 2015, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)
...of why they are refusing to call those who actually are refugees just that, even when it is plainly obvious that's what they are. Having followed closely what's been going on, I can confidently say that the people in that report I posted are refugees, but the BBC refused to refer to them as such.
Lastly, in this situation using the correct words is very important...
Turborama
(22,109 posts)Hungary has accused Croatia of committing "a major violation of international law" by trying to transport 1,000 migrants by train across its border.
Budapest described the train's unannounced arrival as a "major, major incident" - and alleged the 40 police officers accompanying the migrants had to be disarmed and sent back to their homeland.
A Hungarian government spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, also claimed the incident showed "the Croatian system for handling migrants and refugees has collapsed, basically in one day".
The migrants who were on board the train are being transferred from the town of Magyarboly to a reception camp - and Hungary claims it has arrested the train driver.
More: http://news.sky.com/story/1555206/hungary-croatia-is-breaking-international-law